Meeting more of the family

Not long after "Auntie" Mel left us, Aunt Regina and Aunt Linda came to visit.  It was a short visit but Sophie got to spend some quality time with her great Aunts.  They were kind enough to send Dan and I out on the town for an evening too!  They had no idea what they had gotten themselves into, as Sophie was a little demanding of people's attention at the time.  When Dan and I came home, those Aunts looked exhausted!

Meeting Great Aunt Linda for the first time!

They have no idea what they're in for

Playtime!

Cozy with Great Aunt Regina

When Sophie's first diaper needed to be changed when the Aunts arrived, Aunt Linda was holding her and offered for Aunt Regina to change it, she stated that they would do it in "shifts" and that Linda was more than welcome to take the first "shift".  Linda got a messy one and it seemed Sophie always gave her the "dirty" diapers.  Before they left Regina claimed to have had a go with the dirty diaper as well.

Just two days after the Aunts visit, we were on our way to south Florida to see Grandma and Grandpa York and to see Dan's cousin Jeff get married!  (We have been a very loved family with all the visits, and it has kept this new mommy and daddy very busy!)

On our way to the wedding we stopped in Naples to see Grandpa Don and Grandma Sally.  They were so kind and gave us a bunch of gifts for little Sophie.  One gift in particular was a teddy bear that sang a song.  This bear was so loud that Sally played it from across the room one time when Sophie was crying.  After I told her that this child loves loud sounds to get her to calm down, the bear made it's way to Sophie while she was sitting in Grandpa's lap.  She was mesmerized!

Sophie and Grandpa Don

When the bear wasn't cutting it, Don would sing to Sophie while she was laying on his chest like in the picture above.  He has a very deep voice and she loved every bit of it!

After spending the night with Grandma and Grandpa, we headed to Captiva Island in south Florida just outside of Fort Meyers.  Dan's cousin Jeff was getting married and Sophie was getting to meet even more of the family!  Aunt Donna and Grandma Elaine were there, and that's where Sophie met her Aunt Donna for the first time.

Lunch with Aunt Donna

Pretty dress Grandma Elaine bought. This girl never stops moving! This is one of the less blurry shots

Talented Daddy and Sophie

Beautiful beach wedding

Love the Baby Bjorn!

Happy Family!

Chillin' with Grandma at the wedding reception

While on the beautiful island, Sophie made it to the beach for the first time!  Of course she didn't get to play in the sand, but she was quite content sitting under the umbrella with mommy and feeling the ocean breeze blowing through her hair.  The next day, Donna and Elaine offered to watch Sophie for us while we went to the pool for a few hours of adult time and adult drinks.  We had a great time with the family and friends of the wedding party, and enjoyed a "bucket" of voodoo juice while basking in the sun.  This is the result of those few fun hours.

Tired Daddy and Sophie

Elaine and Donna came back to Orlando with us after the wedding to spend more time with Sophie.  After they left, Dan and I celebrated my first Mother's Day with brunch and mimosas with our friends Scott and Jen.  It was a nice and relaxing day.  I still can't believe I'm a mom!  I love every moment with this little girl!

Love
Dan, Jess, Sophie and Lucy

PS-If you're reading this post first and it's been awhile since you've been to the website, don't forget to go back a few posts, as I have been "catching up" for the past month!

Newborn photo shoot

Our friend Kobie graciously offered to take some newborn pictures of Sophie.  These were captured at 2 weeks of age.  After doing this shoot, I realized what a hard job a photographer has trying to get these moments on film all while keeping the baby happy.  Of course a mid-shoot feeding does a baby good.

Cute booty!

I'm hungry!

Rockin' with Daddy's guitar!

We had a great time capturing these moments.  We were only peed on three times, no poop!  And there was one break for a quick snack for Sophie.  Thanks Kobie for the wonderful pictures!

Love
Jess, Dan, Sophie and Lucy

It's been too long...

Last time I wrote, Elaine was in town to spend a week with us, that was almost a month ago!  Wow, I guess being a new mommy keeps a girl busy!  Since Grandma Elaine left we have had even more visitors and have met a lot more of our family! 

We had a great time with Elaine!  We nicknamed her the baby whisperer because it seemed that whenever Dan or I could not get Sophie to calm down, Grandma came to the rescue and Sophie was calmed or put to sleep instantly.  I think it was the way she gave her "Ta Tas" (the Slovak word for patting on the behind).  Saying goodbye to Grandma Elaine wasn't too rough on us as we were going to see her in a few weeks for a family wedding in south Florida.

One day later, "Auntie" Mel came to visit and got to meet Sophie for the first time!  Just having an extra person around during the day is a huge help, and Melissa was just what we needed.  If only to give me five minutes to shower or a few hours to take a nap. 

She even got Sophie to use her pacifier!  Sophie is one month old here

At a pool party

But of course we did more than just sleep while she was here.  Dan was awesome and let me have a night out with Mel, and wow did we have a good time!  We started the night with a sushi dinner and a glass of wine, then headed down the street to a painting class.  Luckily this was not only a painting class but a cocktail hour as well.  Good thing too, as I would not consider myself an artist.  But that's the great thing about this class.  An instructor took us through step by step how to paint a chosen painting and we ended up with masterpieces!  The bottle of wine we brought helped with inspiration I think =)

Cherry blossoms

Good times with my buddy!

Sophie turned one month when Mel was in town on April 28th.  She changes every day.  Here is what she looked like that day =)

Since it's been so long since my last post, I've decided to break everything I've got to share into multiple posts.  So check back tomorrow, cause you might just see something new!

Love
Jess, Dan, Sophie and Lucy

What A Difference A Year Makes!

A year ago today Dan and I said "I Do"!  And boy have our lives changed since.  We were married in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand with some of our family and close friends.  We had a wonderful ceremony followed by dinner and dancing.  We spent the remainder of the week there for our honeymoon and had a blast.  I'm so excited to go back, how lucky are we to get to return to Las Vegas to celebrate our marriage!?

For our one year anniversary, Dan and I get to celebrate with the most precious gift in the world, our baby girl!  She is 3 weeks and 3 days old now, already she has changed so much since I first laid eyes on her.  I hear parents say that kids grow up before you know it and I can see they are spot on!  In a few days we will be celebrating one month with Sophie!  Can't believe it!

Grandma and Grandpa Swartz returned home almost two weeks ago.  We were so sad to see them go!  Grandpa cleaned my floors and my bathroom, loaded/unloaded the dishwasher a bunch of times, and walked Lucy once a day.  Grandma went to the grocery store, Target, and Walgreens about 100 times, did about 100 loads of laundry, and rescued me in the middle of the night when Sophie couldn't go to sleep.  We still miss their company and all the things they helped us with.  We don't know what we would have done without them for those first two weeks.

We survived for a week on our own!  Dan is busy working on his project at Disney, so Sophie and I had to get busy doing our own thing.  Our two week appointment went well and little Sophie had made it back to her birth weight and then some!  She weighed in at 7 pounds 12 ounces (up one ounce from birth weight) and measured 21 3/4 inches (up 1 1/4 inches from birth).  Her umbilical cord stump fell off at this appointment so we got the go ahead to do tub baths!  She still loves getting her hair washed but is not to thrilled about the rest of the bath.

Sophie and I also attend a mother and baby tea on the local hospital's campus where other mothers of newborns up to 8 week olds get together to ask questions and socialize.  It has helped me tremendously since I get all of my questions answered along with hearing other new mommies questions I just hadn't thought of yet.  Also, it helps me understand that I'm not crazy and not the only one going through the trials and tribulations of being a new mommy.  Some questions that have been asked that got everyone in the room nodding their heads and adding their own thoughts:

1. Is it normal to check and see if my baby is breathing every hour? (I'm still doing that)
2. Is it normal that I'm up feeding my baby every hour from 2am-6am? (Gosh, I thought I was the only mom walking around like a zombie)
3. How can I get my baby on a sleep schedule? (Wishful thinking, can't be done this early...)

Grandma York is now in town!  Baby Sophie was so happy to meet her namesake finally!  Grandma Elaine has the magic touch too, just when we didn't think we could get a screaming Sophie to stop crying, we passed her to Grandma and she was out immediately.  Thank goodness for Grandma!  We are enjoying daily walks to the park together, a cup of coffee in the morning and a delicious glass of wine at night.

Dan and I are enjoying every minute with little Sophie.  I'll end with a few new pictures of our sweet girl.

Proud Mommy and Daddy!

Happy Easter!

Listening to Dad sing to me

Big sister Lucy keeping an eye on me

Always manage to get my right arm out of the swaddle

Hi Everyone!

Love,
Dan, Jess, Baby Sophie, and Lucy